Rest of World Souring on Obama’s Presidency

According to a new poll released by the Pew Research Center, the People’s Republic of China doesn’t have a very rosy assessment of President Obama anymore.

When Candidate Obama had just won the election in 2008, countries around the world instantly gave him high marks. Only a few weeks after assuming office, he even received the Nobel Peace Prize for his… uh…?

Anyway, the people of China weren’t immune to the “Obama Fever” pandemic sweeping the globe in the early parts of 2009. A prequel to today’s new poll, taken around that time three years ago, showed that a whopping 57% of Chinese citizens had a favorable view of the President. The numbers today aren’t so pretty. Obama’s approval rating has plunged nearly 30 points to about 27%, mirroring a similar decline in confidence from astronomically high levels of support to prevalent disapproval here in the US.

And China isn’t the only foreign country that’s soured on the “Hope and Change” theme. Muslim countries have decreased their approval of the President by almost 10% since he took office, and our neighbor, Mexico, has seen Obama’s approval rating fall from 55% to 42%, a 13-point drop-off. The complete approval numbers are shown below:

The irony here is that, back in 2008, when Obama was running for office, part of his platform was to restore American approval throughout the world by reaching out to other countries (especially the Islamic world). Lately, that goal has begun to seem unachievable. For the first time, a plurality of foreigners view China, not the US, as the world’s leading economic superpower. Meanwhile, the people of China have more or less given up on President Obama, and are poised to take the lead on the global stage on their own accord.

The takeaway from all this: this is not the kind of “change” President Obama – or the country – needs right now.

Good point. Like I said in the post, I just think this whole turn of events is kind of ironic. Many people in academia thought Obama was some kind of enlightened diplomat President. Those people are, of course, not willing to defend their predictions now in the face of current events.

[…] Arab world on how America is a friend of Islam in his first months in office – a speech which most of the Middle East has forgotten. He’s also had time to accept medals and pose for photos with leaders of other Arab nations […]